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Jennifer M Jones a Department of Psychiatry, University
Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5G 2CA, b Division of Endocrinology,
Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1H
8LI, c Division of
Endocrinology, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5G
2CA, d Ambulatory Care for
Eating Disorders, University Health Network, e Department of Psychiatry, University Health
Network
Correspondence to: G Rodin gary.rodin{at}uhn.on.ca
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Abstract |
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Objective:
To determine the prevalence of eating
disorders in adolescent females with type 1 diabetes mellitus compared
with that in their non-diabetic peers.
Eating disorders are common in late adolescent and young adult
women in westernised countries.1-3 These conditions are
of particular concern in young women with type 1 diabetes mellitus because of their association with impaired metabolic control and an
earlier than expected onset of diabetes related
complications.4-6 Aspects of type 1 diabetes and its
treatment that have been postulated to increase the risk of eating
disorders in young women include the cycle of weight loss at disease
onset and subsequent weight gain with the initiation of insulin
treatment, the trend towards higher body mass index,7
dietary restraint necessitated by diabetes management, and the
availability of deliberate insulin underdosing or omission as a weight
loss strategy.8 However, whether eating disorders occur
more frequently in females with diabetes than their non-diabetic peers
is controversial.
Five controlled, interview based prevalence studies of eating disorders
in young women with type 1 diabetes have been reported in which the
authors concluded that eating disorders were not more common than in
similar non-diabetic populations.9-13 However, these
negative findings were based on small sample sizes of young women in
the age group at highest risk for eating disorders and consequently had
low statistical power to detect significant differences in prevalence.
We compared the prevalence of eating disorders in a large sample of
adolescent girls with type 1 diabetes to that in a large age matched,
non-diabetic female population to determine whether eating
disorders are more common among those with diabetes.
Females aged 12 to 19 years who had had type 1 diabetes for at
least one year were identified from diabetes clinic lists at the
Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, the Children's Hospital of
Eastern Ontario in Ottawa, and the Children's Hospital at Hamilton Health Sciences Corporation in Hamilton, Ontario. The subjects were
approached by post and telephone call or during clinic appointments. All three diabetes clinics are the main primary treatment centres in
their areas for children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes, providing care for about 70% of potential patients within their catchment areas.
A comparison group of 2494 female students without diabetes was
identified at junior high and high schools in Toronto, Ottawa, and
Hamilton. The study was described in the same way to both the students
and the diabetic patients. The subjects were approached individually
whereas the controls were approached as a group during a class. We
obtained research ethics approval for each site and informed written
consent from each participant and her parent, when required.
Study protocol
1. Score of 2. Score of 3. Score of 4. Total score of 5. Current or past history of binge eating, self
induced vomiting, use of laxatives or diuretics, insulin omission for
weight loss, or current dietary restriction as assessed by the
diagnostic survey for eating disorders 6. History of eating disorder diagnosis or treatment
reported in diagnostic survey for eating disorders 7.
Design:
Cross sectional case-control led study.
Setting:
Diabetes clinics and schools in three
Canadian cities.
Subjects:
356 females aged 12-19 with type 1 diabetes and 1098 age matched non-diabetic controls.
Main outcome measure:
Eating disorders meeting
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
(DSM-IV) criteria.
Results:
Eating disorders that met DSM-IV
criteria were more prevalent in diabetic subjects (36, 10%) than in
non-diabetic controls (49, 4%) (odds ratio 2.4, 95% confidence
interval 1.5 to 3.7; P<0.001). Subthreshold eating disorders were also
more common in those with diabetes (49, 14%) than in controls (84, 8%) (odds ratio 1.9, 95% confidence interval 1.3 to 2.8; P<0.001). Mean haemoglobin A1c concentration was higher in
diabetic subjects with an eating disorder (9.4% (1.8)) than in those
without (8.6% (1.6)), P=0.04).
Conclusions:
DSM-IV and subthreshold eating disorders
are almost twice as common in adolescent females with type 1 diabetes as in their non-diabetic peers. In diabetic subjects, eating disorders are associated with insulin omission for weight loss and impaired metabolic control.
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Introduction
Top
Abstract
Introduction
Participants and methods
Results
Discussion
References
![]()
Participants and methods
Top
Abstract
Introduction
Participants and methods
Results
Discussion
References
All participants completed a self report screening package that
included the eating disorder inventory,14 the eating attitudes test (EAT-26),15 and the diagnostic survey for
eating disorders (modified).16 Body mass index (weight
(kg)/(height (m)2)) was calculated based on self
reported height and weight. Participants who were
considered to be at risk of an eating disorder because they scored
above predetermined cut off levels (box) were asked to complete the
eating disorder examination (version 11.5d-modified), which is a
semistructured diagnostic interview.17 An additional 15%
of the subjects who did not meet the screening cut off were randomly
selected for the interview to ensure interviewer blindness. Interviewers could not be blind to diabetes status because the questionnaire contained questions relating to diabetes, which we
included for the diabetes sample (for example, on insulin omission for
weight loss). Blood was obtained by finger prick from each of the
diabetic subjects to measure haemoglobin A1c
concentrations. All samples were analysed at the Hospital for Sick
Children with the BioRad variant high pressure liquid chromatography
assay (normal range 4-6%).18
Screening cut off criteria for interviews
15 on drive for thinness subscale of the eating
disorder inventory (corresponds to 88th percentile for girls aged 11 to
18 years and 47th percentile for patients with clinically diagnosed
eating disorder14)
5 on bulimia subscale of the eating
disorder inventory (86th percentile for 11 to 18 year old girls and
21st percentile for patients with eating disorder14)
20 on body dissatisfaction subscale of
the eating disorder inventory (87th percentile for 11 to 18 year old
girls and 60th percentile for eating disorder patients14)
20 on the eating attitudes test
(recommended cut off score for screening purposes15)
5th percentile of body mass index for age matched
females19
Screening measures
The eating disorders inventory and eating attitudes test are self
administered questionnaires shown to be reliable and valid screening
measures for eating disorders in both diabetic and non-diabetic
populations.
14 15 20 21
The eating disorders inventory
provides quantitative assessments of specific eating attitudes and
behaviours, and the eating attitudes test provides a total score for
disturbed eating attitudes and behaviour. Scores on both questionnaires
were corrected to discount items that may be scored positively because
of diabetes and its treatment (such as "Aware of the calorie content
of foods that I eat"). The diagnostic survey for eating disorders is
a self administered questionnaire that allows the frequency of
disturbed behaviour to be quantified.16 We modified this
measure to include diabetes related items such as intentional insulin
omission for weight loss.
4 22
The eating disorders
examination is a semistructured diagnostic interview that quantifies
the symptoms, behaviour, and psychopathology of eating disorders and
allows eating disorders to be diagnosed according to the
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
(DSM-IV).23 This interview has good reliability and
validity and is currently considered the gold standard for the
standardised assessment of eating disorders.
17 24-26
We
used a modified version to evaluate diabetes specific behaviour related to eating disorders and to determine if eating behaviour was motivated by diabetes management or weight and shape reasons.
Classification of eating disorders
The classification of eating disorders was based on data from the
eating disorder examination interview. Subjects were classified as
having a full syndrome eating disorder based on DSM-IV criteria
(anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, or "eating disorder not otherwise
specified")23; a subthreshold eating disorder; or no
eating disorder. These three categories were mutually exclusive (see
BMJ 's website for details of diagnostic criteria).
Statistical analysis
We used
2 analyses with Yates's correction
for continuity to test the prevalence of clinical and subthreshold
eating disorders between the three cities and in the combined samples.
Fisher's exact test was used to test the proportions for bulimia. We
compared normally distributed continuous variables using Student's
t tests and analysis of variance. Scheffe's method for
post-hoc comparisons was used to deal with inflated type I error rates
when significant effects were found by analysis of variance. Non-normal
data were transformed logarithmically and independent t
tests were used for comparisons between two groups. Odds ratios
and corresponding confidence intervals were calculated to measure the
main effect of diabetes on eating disorders. P values <0.05 were
considered significant. All P values are two tailed.
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Results |
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Participants and non-participants
In total, 361 of 430 eligible females with type 1 diabetes (84%)
agreed to participate in the study. Of the 2494 eligible school girls
without diabetes, 1840 (74%) returned signed consent forms and agreed
to take part in the study, and an additional 151 (8%) subjects were
absent or could not participate because of school tests on the day of
the survey. Screening data were collected on 1689 subjects without
diabetes. Based on projected numbers of diabetic subjects at each site,
we randomly selected a subsample of 1114 age and site matched control
subjects (roughly 3:1 ratio).
that is, combined diabetes and
combined control samples. The mean body mass index was higher in the
diabetes group (22.7 (SD 3.8) versus 20.6 (3.3), P<0.001), and the
proportion of subjects from higher socioeconomic groups (IV, V, and VI)
was slightly higher among control subjects (53% versus 61%, P=0.02)
(table 1).
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Self reported data
Based on the diagnostic survey for eating disorders, diabetic
subjects reported more binge eating and less dieting for the purpose of
losing weight than controls (table 2). There were no significant
differences between the two groups in frequency of self induced
vomiting or misuse of laxatives, or on the eating disorder inventory
subscales or eating attitudes test total score.
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Frequency of DSM-IV and subthreshold eating disorders
Table 3 shows the frequency of eating disorders based on DSM-IV
criteria. Subjects with diabetes were 2.4 times more likely than
controls to have an eating disorder (95% confidence interval 1.5 to
3.7). In total, 36 (10%) of the 356 diabetic subjects who completed
the study met DSM-IV criteria for eating disorders compared with 49 (4%) of the 1098 non-diabetic controls (P<0.001). Eating disorder not
otherwise specified was the most frequent diagnosis, and there were no
cases of anorexia nervosa in either group. Diabetic subjects were also
1.9 times (1.3 to 2.8) more likely to have a subthreshold eating
disorder than control subjects (49 (14%) versus 84 (8%); P<0.001).
There was no significant difference in socioeconomic status between
eating disorder groups.
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Insulin manipulation and haemoglobin A1c
In subjects with diabetes, deliberate insulin omission was the
most common weight loss behaviour after dieting. At screening, 41 (11%) reported that they were currently taking less than their
prescribed dose of insulin to lose weight. Fifteen (42%) of the 36 diabetic subjects with an eating disorder reported insulin misuse at
the time of screening, which was significantly higher than the
proportion in the subthreshold (9, 18%) and non-disordered groups (16, 6%; P<0.001). Diabetic subjects with eating disorders had
significantly higher mean haemoglobin A1c
concentrations (9.4% (SD 1.8)) compared with those without an eating
disorder (8.6% (1.6), P=0.04). The mean haemoglobin
A1c concentration for subjects with a
subthreshold disorder (9.1% (1.8)) did not differ significantly from
that in the DSM-IV or non-disordered groups.
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Discussion |
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This multisite case-controlled study has shown that eating disorders that meet DSM-IV diagnostic criteria and their subthreshold variants are about twice as common in adolescent females with type 1 diabetes as in their non-diabetic peers. Among diabetic subjects, the mean haemoglobin A1c concentration was higher in those with an eating disorder than in those without an eating disorder. Such an association between eating disorders and impaired metabolic control may contribute to an increased risk of microvascular complications in young women with diabetes and eating disorders. 4 27
Insulin omission, which is recognised as a purging behaviour in the DSM-IV criteria, was the most common weight loss method after dieting among the diabetic subjects. The availability of this method of weight control, together with the dietary restrictions imposed by the diabetes regimen, may explain why the diabetes group reported less dieting to lose weight than the control group, even though they reported more binge eating.
Our study has some limitations. Although the participation rates of 84% in the diabetes group and 74% in the control group are high, the possibility of selection bias cannot be excluded. In addition, our diabetes sample is not truly population based, and a referral bias to the paediatric diabetes clinics may exist. Finally, a higher proportion of our control subjects were in the upper socioeconomic group than the diabetic subjects. However, we found no statistical relation between socioeconomic status and eating disorder.
Despite these limitations, our study overcomes the methodological difficulties of previous studies. The findings are both statistically and clinically meaningful, and the magnitude of the difference in prevalence is comparable with that found in previous studies with small sample sizes.9-13 The increased prevalence of eating disorders in adolescent females with type 1 diabetes may reflect an interaction between individual and environmental factors in the pathogenesis of eating disorders, similar to that observed in other high risk groups, such as competitive athletes,28 models,29 and ballet dancers.30 However, eating disorders in adolescent females with type 1 diabetes pose a particular health risk in that they are associated with impaired metabolic control and about a threefold increase in the risk of diabetic retinopathy.4 Preliminary research suggests that clinic based interventions may help to diminish disordered eating attitudes in these young women.31 Further study is needed to determine whether intensive diabetes treatment regimens contribute to the increased risk of eating disorders in this population.
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What is already known on this topic
Eating disorders in young diabetic women are associated with earlier onset of diabetic complications Underdosing of insulin is a common method of weight loss among diabetic women Small studies have found no difference in prevalence of eating disorders among adolescents with and without diabetes What this study addsThe prevalence of eating disorders was about twice as high among diabetic females aged 12-19 as that among age matched controls Diabetic subjects with eating disorders had higher haemoglobin A1c concentrations than those without eating disorders |
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Acknowledgments |
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We acknowledge the time and effort of the young women who participated in our study. We also thank David Streiner and Gerald Devins for their statistical and methodological contributions and Susan Bennett and Anne Rydall for help with data collection. Finally, we thank the staff at the participating hospitals and schools, and in particular John Vadermeulen at Hamilton Health Services.
Contributors: The research was developed within the diabetes and eating disorders research group of the University Health Network, the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, and the University of Toronto, of which GR, DD, and MPO are senior members. The research formed part of JMJ's PhD thesis at the Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, which was supervised by GR. JMJ conducted the data collection and statistical analysis and drafted the paper. MPO and MLL provided statistical guidance. All authors contributed to the revision and editing of the paper. GR and JMJ will act as guarantors for the paper.
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Footnotes |
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Funding: Medical Research Council of Canada (MA-12855), Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute (96/15S(E)), Genesis Foundation, and Toronto Hospital Psychiatry Research Fund.
Competing interests: None declared.
The diagnostic criteria used for
eating disorders are given on the BMJ's website
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References |
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(Accepted 24 February 2000)